The present invention is directed to noncombustible decorative coatings and methods of making them. In particular, the invention is directed to a composition which can be used as a decorative coating for walls, ceilings, floors and other supported, generally non-flexible furnishings to enhance their fire resistance and aesthetic value. The invention is particularly advantageous in flame retardant systems where the coating itself must be totally noncombustible.
On average, about 25 people per day in the United States die in fires. If trends continue, some 7,500 people will die in fires in the U.S. in 1983, and four times that number will be injured. That fire death rate per capita is almost twice the international average, and is surpassed only by Canada. As for fire incidence, the U.S. rate per capita is the highest in the world.
Because of stringent codes, most public buildings are made largely of noncombustible materials like concrete, glass, and metal. Thus, the major fire hazard is not the structure itself, but its furnishings and interior fixtures, i.e. walls, ceilings and services of the building, i.e. plumbing, electrical wiring and air conditioning. Often these items are made of combustible materials, increasing the fuel load of the buildings. It therefore is desireable to retard flame spread or prevent it entirely to decrease the fire hazards.
Also of particular consequence is the increasing use of synthetic polymers to replace wood and other natural materials. Most of the heats of combustion of synthetic polymers are much higher than those for natural materials. Once synthetic polymers ignite, the heat produced is greater than that from natural materials. It is then probable that a fire will develop faster and be even more life-threatening. Thus, it is necessary to decrease the ignitability and the rate of heat release of these combustible materials, preferably eliminating these factors completely.
According to the Center for Fire Research, the federal government's principal organization for conducting research in laboratories or fires, and a part of the National Bureau of Standards, 80% of fire deaths are due to the inhalation of smoke or hot gases and are not the result of burns. Toxic gases commonly found in fires include acrolein, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrogen chloride. These gases can be produced by certain natural materials, but hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen chloride, in particular are produced much more abundantly by many synthetic polymers than by wood. The smoke and gases accumulate near the ceiling of a room until the gases become hot enough to burn themselves. This phenomenon, called flashover, makes the fire spread furiously to all combustible objects in the room. Thus, it has become increasingly important that any flame-retardant system lower the rate and extent of smoke generation.
As is clear from these alarming statistics, fire retardant systems in the prior art have not been effective in combating the hazards of fire. The present invention, however, overcomes many of the problems of dealing with fire hazards as discussed herein.
Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is to provide a coating for furnishings and building fixtures which is totally noncombustible and eliminates flame spread.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a noncombustible coating which lowers or eliminates the ignitability of the coated material.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a noncombustible coating which decreases the rate of heat release of the coated material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a noncombustible coating which lowers or eliminates the rate and extent of smoke generation from the coated material.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a noncombustible coating which is decorative and enhances the aesthetic value of the coated material.
A further object of the invention is to provide a noncombustible coating which is inexpensive to produce and easy to apply to furnishings and building fixtures.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of examples of the invention.